A multimillion dollar project proposed for Iowa City, Iowa on the current site of the Forest View Mobile Home Court calls for three hotels, several office buildings and about a dozen condo and apartment buildings, according to preliminary plans. The enterprise may take five to seven years to fully construct, says Justin Doyle, a partner in developer Blackbird Investments and North Dubuque LLC, which is a partnership for the development, as MHProNews has learned from presscitizen in Iowa City.
The residents of Forest View manufactured home community (MHC) would be relocated 200 feet south to hills that sit above the flood plain, said Eddie Cole, who is also president of North Dubuque. “Tenants have been the priority from the beginning. They’ll have bigger lots, and it’s going to be a nice development when it’s all finished. We’ll have new streets and new sewer and water lines, which will all be permanent,” Eddie Cole said. “It’s taken 20 years to find partners for a project here, and we’re really blessed that we found them.” Cole added the residents’ homes will be moved for them.
For the past several years Interim City Manager Geoff Fruin said the city has been in discussions with the Coles about redevelopment. Echoing Eddie Cole, Fruin said “We made it clear that the relocation issue needed to be addressed up-front and that they needed to have a solid plan that the community could support.” ##
(Photo credit: Iowa City Press Citizen/Andy Davis–current site of Forest View)
